Which Firewood is Best?

burning_firewood_fireplace_safety.jp
http://www.bestfirewoodfacts.com/

Broad Question: Which firewood is best for heat and burn length?

Specific Question: Between Pine,Cherry,Oak and Spruce which gives of more heat and burns longest?

Independent Variable: Type of wood used

Dependent Variable: Temperature(F) and burn Time(Min)

Variables That Need to be Controlled:The size of the wood and place to start burning.

Hypothesis

I hypothesize that Pine,cherry,oak,then spruce is the order for the best time burned and highest temperature reached

Graph of Hypothesis

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Experimental Design

I will be seeing which fire wood burns best ill will be doing this by burning wood at home using pine ceder cherry and spruce wood and ill use a fire starter to help them burn i will be recording the temperature using a lab quest go temp and writing down the information on my spread sheet that i printed out.

Materials List

1) Pine

2) Cherry

3) Oak

4) Spruce

5) 4 Tin Pan

6) Lighter

7) Fire block

8) Go temp

9) Water

10)Lap Top

11)Safety glasses

Detailed Procedure

1) Collect materials

2) Place each type of wood in a separate tin pan

3) place fire block under the pine wood

4) Set up the go temp at the pine wood

5) Light the fire block and let the wood urn for seven minutes

6) After seven minutes put out the fire,and save the data on the computer connected to the go temp

7) Repeat steps 3-6 two more times

8) Repeat steps 3-7 but with the ceder wood

9) Repeat steps 3-7 but with the oak wood

10) Repeat steps 3-7 but with the spruce wood

Background Research

1)

I learned the common trees found and lumbered in New Hampshire and that some tress absorb more water and that some trees have longer burn lenght then others.

2)

i learned that hardwood burn longer and has hotter cols but is not as loud even if soft wood burn quicker has more smoke and crackles more so it depend on what you like but soft wood also has a higher burning temperature

3)

I learned the common trees found and lumbered in New Hampshire and that some tress absorb more water and that some trees have longer burn length then others.

4)

i learned that hardwood burn longer and has hotter cols but is not as loud even if soft wood burn quicker has more smoke and crackles more so it depend on what you like but soft wood also has a higher burning temperature

References

1)Allaby, Michael. Plants And Plant Life. Vol. 8. Danbury, CT: Grolier Educational, 2001. 10,14,30. Print.

2)Firewood Facts. Web Signs 4 u, 1998. Web. 15 Jan. 2012. <http://www.gardengrapevine.com/FirewoodFacts18.html>.

3)Middleton, Dougless. Hardwood vs softwood. Douglas Middleton, Web. 20 Jan. 2012. <http://www.harrisenergyinc.com/pdf/hardwoodvssoftwood.pdf>.

4)"Wood and Combustion Heat Values." www.engineeringtoolbox.com. Google, Web. 18 Jan. 2012. <http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/wood-combustion-heat-d_372.html>.

Results

Data Table

Photos

Data Analysis

Conclusion

The original purpose of this experiment was to find out if pine, cherry oak or spruce firewood burn longest and hottest. I did this by burning each type of wood for seven minutes three times each. The results of this experiment show that oak burn the best out of all wood types with the average temperature of 240.4(F) followed by spruce 198.7(F) cherry168.9 (F) and lastly pine 164.7(F)

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Discussion

I hypothesize that pine, cherry, oak, then spruce is the order for the best time burned and highest temperature reached. My results did support my hypothesis. some patterns and trends that my data show are that over the firs six minutes the temperature rises and then drops. I think my test went smoothly. Everything worked and the data came out clear I was also able to gather all me materials to do the experiment. If I could improve my experiment, Id have a longer trial time to increase the number of data points. An intrusting future study might test how long each type of wood can burn until the flame is gone.

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